POMONA -- Cal State LA's women's basketball team was unable to shake off a slow start Saturday in a big California Collegiate Athletic Association game in Pomona.

The Golden Eagles made only four baskets in the opening half while falling behind by 16 points and a strong second-half effort fell short in a 55-45 loss to Cal Poly Pomona in Kellogg Arena. Cal State LA (11-12, 8-7 CCAA) fell two games out of third place and holds onto the seventh spot in a tightly-bunched California Collegiate Athletic Association. The top eight teams will qualify for the CCAA Championship Tournament.

Rikke Fabricius had 11 points and eight rebounds for the Golden Eagles, but she was the only player to reach double figures. Rachael DiRegolo had nine points and seven rebounds and Christine Delapina had nine points, three rebounds and two assists.

Alyssa Benton had 11 points and 10 rebounds for Cal Poly Pomona (12-9, 10-5 CCAA, while Dominique Dotson had 10 points and four rebounds.

Samantha Lee had eight second-half points, while Marina LaPuzza had a team-high nine rebounds to go along with five points, two assists and two steals.

Cal State LA shot just 28.3 percent overall (13-of-46) and was just 4-of-20 in the first half. The Golden Eagles were just 4-of-18 from 3-point range (22.2 percent). Cal Poly Pomona shot 32.7 percent (17-of-52) and was 6-of-17 from 3-point range. Cal State LA was 15-of-26 from the free-throw line, while Cal Poly Pomona was 15-of-23. Cal Poly Pomona had a 42-37 rebounding edge and Cal State LA committed 17 turnovers to 14 for the Broncos.

The two teams split the regular-season series.

The Golden Eagles managed only five points in the opening quarter and trailed by 14 points after the first 10 minutes. Cal Poly Pomona stretched its advantage to 24-5 four minutes into the second period before a free throw by Sacha Griffin stopped a 8-0 run. A 3-pointer by Delapina and a free throw by Rachael DiRegolo got the deficit down to 14 points, 26-12 and a layup by DiRegolo made it 31-15 at halftime.

Cal State LA trailed by as many as 21 points, but the Golden Eagles got a free throw from Delapina, a layup by Fabricius and two free throws by Lee to make it 41-26 after three quarters.

The Golden Eagles battled back nicely in the fourth quarter and pulled to within six points, 42-36, after a 3-pointer by Lee with four minutes to go, but Cal Poly Pomona responded with a 3-pointer to stretch the lead back to nine. A layup by Rebeccah Di Regolo got the Golden Eagles to within seven, 45-38, with 3:21 to go, but that's as close as Cal State LA could get.

Cal State LA will return to action on Thursday with a special Homecoming game against Cal State San Bernardino at 5:30 p.m.